Harvard not yet publishing claim Jesus had wife

Sep 22, 2012 by Jay Lindsay

Harvard University says it hasn't committed to publishing research that purportedly shows some early Christians believed Jesus had a wife even though its divinity school touted the research during a publicity blitz this week.

The research centers on a fourth-century papyrus fragment containing Coptic text in which Jesus uses the words "my wife." On Tuesday, Harvard Divinity School professor Karen King announced at an international conference that the fragment was the only existing ancient text in which Jesus explicitly talks of having a wife.

Harvard also said King's research was scheduled to be published in the Harvard Theological Review in January and noted the journal was peer-reviewed, which implied the research had been fully vetted.

But on Friday, the review's co-editor Kevin Madigan said he and his co-editor had only "provisionally" committed to a January publication, pending the results of the ongoing studies. In an email, Madigan said the added studies include "scientific dating and further reports from Coptic papyrologists and grammarians."

After Tuesday's announcement, The Associated Press raised questions about the fragment's authenticity and provenance, quoting scholars at the international congress on Coptic studies in Rome, where King delivered the paper. The scholars said the fragment's grammar, form and content raised several red flags. Alin Suciu, a papyrologist at the University of Hamburg, flatly called it a "forgery."

Boston University archaeologist Ricardo Elia said Friday that the Harvard Theological Review should delay publication until the fragment's owner and origins are more clearly documented.

Harvard has kept the owner anonymous, and Elia said that raises questions about professional ethics, because Harvard appears to be protecting the owner, a collector, from other claims to the fragment. The school has said the papyrus most likely came from Egypt, which means it could be Egypt's cultural property, Elia said.

"If it's real, it was looted and smuggled, most likely," he said. "If it's not real, then it shouldn't even be out there in the discussion."

Elia said "lurking behind all of this is the suspicion that the collector is doing this for the purpose of having the scholar authenticate a piece, and get a lot of attention to it, and then turn around and sell it."

King's announcement about the fragment, which she called the Gospel of Jesus's Wife, came after the school released details in advance to The New York Times and The Boston Globe, which gave the story prominent play. The Smithsonian Channel is planning to debut a program about it at end of the month.

Text on the papyrus fragment, written in the language of early Egyptian Christians, records Jesus referring to a woman, Mary, as "my wife," and later saying, "She can be my disciple."

King emphasized the 1.5 inch (38.1 millimeter)-by-3-inch (76.2-millimeter) fragment was not proof Jesus was married, just evidence that some early Christians thought he was. Christian tradition holds that Jesus was unmarried. Evidence to the contrary, or that he had a female disciple, would fuel debate over the role of women in the church.

King said further testing would be done on the fragment, including ink tests to determine if the chemical components match those used in antiquity.

King also took the fragment to two papyrologists who determined it was very likely authentic. One of the experts, AnneMarie Luijendijk, of Princeton University, said papyrus fragments often don't have provenances because many were taken from Egypt long before that was a major concern.

The Vatican newspaper and Vatican Radio frequently cover academic conferences like the one King attended, but there was no mention of King's discovery in any Vatican media on Tuesday.

Four words on a previously unknown papyrus fragment provide the first evidence that some early Christians believed Jesus had been married, Harvard Professor Karen King told the 10th International Congress ...

The historical person Jesus of Nazareth - beyond the accounts in the creeds and the Gospels, which are all characterized by religious belief - is the focus of Tobias Hägerland's dissertation from the University of Gothenburg, ...

A tiny clay fragment - dating from the 14th century B.C.E. - that was found in excavations outside Jerusalem's Old City walls contains the oldest written document ever found in Jerusalem, say researchers at ...

Recommended for you

Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities says American archeologists have discovered a 3000-year-old tomb with beautifully painted walls belonging to a nobleman who guarded the temple of the ancient deity Amun.

A partial human skull unearthed in 2008 in northern Israel may hold some clues as to when and where humans and Neanderthals might have interbred. The key to addressing this, as well as other important issues, ...

A type of vertebrate trace fossil gaining recognition in the field of paleontology is that made by various tetrapods (four-footed land-living vertebrates) as they traveled through water under buoyant or semibuoyant ...

(AP)—The Islamic State group released a video on Thursday showing militants using sledgehammers to smash ancient artifacts in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, describing the relics as idols that must be removed.

perhaps its time all religions were understood to have arisen without any discipline at all as they all claim something which can never be tested and is purely emotionally based on "Voices in the Head" of a tiny number of people who get massive self-esteem from claims.

Surely then, as Science has shown immense advances far beyond any religion that these cults be treated with the scrutiny they deserve.

Isnt it time the deity claimed by any religion actually appear and make themselves known, that they are not aliens and not phantoms of the use of psychotropics or random vivid/lucid dreams etc...

I'm now firmly of the belief that if any religion wants tax free status which allows their 'inventors' or progenitors to get a tax free benefit that their deity appear before the relevant government committees as soon as is inhumanely possible !

Even if this is a genuine fourth-century papyrus, it does not mean Jesus ever mentioned a wife, it does not mean he ever existed. It only means someone in the fourth century wrote this on papyrus. It is highly questionable whether Jesus was any more than an imaginary Sun God mixed in with a few claimants to be messiahs. Not one piece of contemporary evidence to show his existence.

There is the Demarcation Problem to consider. See Karl Popper's [i]The Logic of Scientific Discovery[/i].

Yes this problem or rather 'issue' has been around for a long time. However, do you really think we need to consider this in respect of religion & contrast with the foundations & scaffolding of contemporary science ?

The biggest issue which has never been addressed by any religion is why the deity doesn't communicate unequivocally & can only be claimed by "Voices in the Head" ?

I've thought on this demarcation issue now & then, its best addressed IMHO by applying "The provenance of Truth".

ie. What is the source of knowledge which is laid bare & how does it arise ?

If you look at religious works honestly, they only speak:-Authority, Status, Punishment and Devotion" & results in zero functionality.

Thanks, M. Massen, for your extensive response. Which contemporary science is this that is different from religion? An on point retort seen elsewhere is illuminating; which questionable systems of knowledge have 'science' in their name, e.g., "social science", or "climate science", or mathematics, physics, chemistry, astrology, et cetera? The Problem of Demarcation persists.

Doh, the hard sciences, biochemistry etc. Maths is clearly demonstrable, there incl in hard sciences though philosophy of maths overlaps the 'science' of maths...

..which questionable systems of knowledge have 'science' in their name, e.g., "social science", or "climate science"..

You can throw away astrology as in no evidence, fail DB trials etc

Just because some throw the word science in doesnt mean the demarcation issue applies, it has more reflection of most peoples ignorance of the relevant disciplines esp those related to "Social" though there are demonstrable core values easily testable but the level of complexity is not appreciated - this also apples to climate issues.

Independent evidentiary & substantive issues are necessary in all respects, with climate though we start with a given - an essentially closed system with expanding variables & ranges etc...

Please sign in to add a comment.
Registration is free, and takes less than a minute.
Read more

Click here to reset your password.
Sign in to get notified via email when new comments are made.

Javascript is currently disabled in your web browser. For full site functionality, it is necessary to enable Javascript.
In order to enable it, please see these instructions.